Feeding mechanism.



E. B. SNYDER.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 9. I916.

Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

1 0 m y m 0 o n d E. B. SNYDER.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9. l9l6.

Patented Feb. 27,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5x 5 N1 MIN 5 I, w\ Q u I In N n W Q QQ S lil I I I I I 4 I l I 1 I I t aw N IH m. w w m e wl. m W Q \w \w NW bu www! h FM I Q Nu ERLE B. SNYDER, E CLEVELAND, 0 1110, ASSIGNOR or onE-nnnr To FREDERICK J.

' KE'rcHEn, or AKRON, OHIO.

FEEDING MECHANIS 7 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

' Application filed October 9, 1916. Serial No. 124,536.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ERLE-HB. SNYDER, a

citizen of the United States residing at Cleveland, in the county of duyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Feeding Mechanisms,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for-intermittently moving or feeding forward the 7 upper member of a stack orbundle of superimposed sheets and more especially relates to devices for feeding sheets of paper 1 from a stack or pile; to thegrippers of a printing press .from whence they are delivered to the printing -mechanism.

The object of the invention is to provide suitable mechanism whereby the uppermost 1 sheet in a stack of paper is carried forward .by a step by step movement into position to be seized by the grippers of a printing press for. transmission to the printing mechanism, said mechanism equipped with .means for retarding or preventing the forward movement of the next succeeding sheet, said mechanism also provided with means to control the amount of forward movement of the uppermost sheet which is fedaccurately and truly, alining the same both transversely and longitudinally of. the

movement of the sheet sothat its position with respect to the printing mechanism is accurately determined to the end that the impressions made by the printing press may positively register. A special feature in connection with this device is that by accurately aliningithe sheets both longitudinally and transversely in their forward movement during the feeding thereof to a printing press, positive registration may be had during'the printing operation so that the printing may be accurately accomplished without the interposition of other mechanism for the requirement of manual manipulation of the sheets during the passage of the paper from this device to the press.

7 A still further object of the invention is to provide mechanism for accomplishing the before mentioned objects in such a manner that the uppermost sheet is positively and accurately moved forward into suitable position and the next succeeding sheet is held fixedly in position so. that at the next reciprocation or movement of the, device it will be properly and accurately positioned to be brought forward into engagement with the printing press. I v

With the foregoing. and other objects-in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts constituting the invention to be hereinafter specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying ,drawings which form a part hereof wherein is shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which come. within the scope of the matter hereinafter claimed. 7 In the drawings in which similar reference numerals indicate like parts in the different figures,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a simple form of a device embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse, sectional view taken approximately centrally of the device shown ject matter. of the present invention is adapted to be mounted upon suitable supporting medium, a simple form of which is shown in the accompanying drawings and although-so shown the means for mounting the invention is not thereby limited.-

The supportingmedium shown embodies walls 1 1 is a bed 3 the ends of which are spaced from the end walls 2 2. Extending between theside. walls 11' and near one end wall is a filler strip 4. spaced from the bed 3 to provide a transverseopening' 5. Extending between the side walls 1---1 at the opposite end of the frame is a filler strip 6 spaced from the bed 3 to provide a transverse opening 7. Extending transversely of the slot or opening 5 is a shaft 8 on which is mounted a roller 9 and extending transversely of the slot or o ening 'fi is a'transverse shaft 10 on'whic is a roller 11, the shafts 8 and 10,being in parallelism; Extendingaround the rollers 9 and 11 is an endless web, belt or conveyer 12 which is .intermittingly moved by-means to be later described, over the upper surface of the .a frame consisting'of the side walls 1 and end walls 2, and extending between the side I I and forwardly the loosely mounted thereon. The arm 15 bears a laterally-extending arm 16 in which is a pin 17 bearing a pawl 18 adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchctwheel 13 that as the arm 15 .is oscillated backwardly pawl intermittingly engages the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 13 and progressively and intermittingly rotates the shaft 10, the rollers 9 and i1 and moves the web, belt or conveyor 12. The arm 15 is provided. with a plurality of trans verse apertures for a purpose to be later described.

Mounted on the side members 1-1 of the device are two upwardly-extending standards-20 and 21 each provided with an aperture, said apertures being in aline- .ment and in these apertures is mounted a transversely-extending bar 22. Supported by the bar 22 and arranged at sides of the bed 3 and oppositely disposed to. each other are a pair of paper guides similarly constructed both reversely arranged and oppositely disposedto each other and as they are similar it is thought a description of one will be sufficient for the understanding of both. Each paper guide comprises a sleeve 23 apertured to receive the rod 22 and the sleeve 23 and guide adjustably in position against movement by means. of a set screw 24 engaging the rod 22. Below the sleeves 23 the guides are provided with side memhere 25 provided at their lower edges with lateral flanges 26 positioned immediately above the web or conveyer 12. The flanges 26 project inwardly toward the central portion of the web 12 a sufficient distance to sustain the edges of the sheets of paper arranged in a stack which are mount ed on said conveyer. The front portion of each paper guide (the right in Fig. 1) is downwardly inclined and is provided with a laterally-extending flange 27 to thereby provide a contracted outlet or opening 28 for a single sheet of paper fed forward by the device. These paper guides are adjustable as before mentioned toward and away from each other to adapt the deviceto receive the sheets of paper of different widths. Detachably and adjustably secured by means of set screws 30, on the bar 22 is an arm 31 the free end of which is pivotally connected to a rearwardly-extending bar 32 on which is slida-bly mounted a braking element 33 comprising a hollow head which slidably receives the bar 32 and which is held in a definite position bymeans of set screws 34. This head 33 is provided with a downwardly rearwardly extending finger 35 the free end of which is covered by a finger cot 36, preferably formed of vulcanized soft rubber, the function of which is to engage and hold the sheets of paper against being drawn forward by mechanism'to be later described, so that as one sheet is moved forward by the mechanism the next sheet of paper is held against movement. The inner side face of one of the paper guides. constitutes a U guide for accurately alining the moving sheet of paper during its progressive longitudinal movement toward the printing mechanism so that the-sheet of paper as it moves forward will be accurately placed for engagement by the gripping mechanism. The standards 20 and 21 are provided with alined openings constituting bearings for a rotatable shaft 40 which is mountedtherein. Mounted on the shaft 40 area pair of sleeves 41-preferably arranged in spaced relation from each of which extends an integral arm 42. The sleeves 41 are held in a predetermined and adjusted position on the shaft 40 by means of set screws 43. Pivotally mounted on the end of each of the arms 42 are fingers 44 the free ends of which are provided with finger cots 45 preferably formedof vulcanized rubber and adapted to engagethe upper face of the upper sheet of paper for feeding the same forwardly to the printing mechanism. The shaft 40 projects through the standard 20 and is provided near the latter withan adjustable collar 46 (see Fig. 4) between which and the standard 20 is a coiled spring 47 the normal tendency of which is to force the shaft 40 to the right in Figs. 3 and 4. Surrounding the shaft'4O outside of the standard 20 is an irrevoluble sleeve 48 the outer face 47 of which is formed upon sinuous or oblique lines. Fixedly secured on the shaft 40 outside of the sleeve 48 is the head 50 of an oscillating operating arm 51. ,One face of the head 50 corresponding in contour with the face 49 of the sleeve 48 which is in contact therewith so. that as the arm 51 is oscillated the face of the head 50.-

will coact with the inclined face 49 of the sleeve 48 causing. the head 50 and the shaft 41 to move to the left in Figs. 3 and 4 and assume the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4 thereby shifting both of the fingers 44 to the left when the shaft 40 is escillated, in order that, as the fingers 44 move the sheet of paper indicated in dotted lines and designated by the reference numeral 55,

forwardly the engagement of the head 50 with the sleeve 48 will also shift the same sheet of paper to the left to bring it into engagement with the paper guide near to the standard 20. The engagement of the sheet of paper with the guide will aline the B ll iprmzsoformer and insure accurate lateral as well as longitudinal forward movement and the lows: A stack or pile of sheets of paper or any other devices which it is desired to feed forward to some instrumentality such as a printing press arekplaced on the upper face of the conveyer or belt 12 and the upper oneis brought forward between the guides so as to be engaged. by the fingers 44. This movement of the upper .sheet engaging "the fingers 44 permits the braking finger 35 to rest upon the next succeeding sheet tohold it against forward movement in unison with the top sheet. The lateral portions of the stack or pile of papers on the belt or conveyer 12 will rest upon the inturned flanges 26 of the paper guides. Suitable means are applied to the oscillating arm 61 to cause it to constantly oscillate and the oscillation of this arm rocks the-arms 42 and fingers 44 a determinate distance depending on the amount of oscillation imparted to the arm 51. Simultaneously with the rocking movement forward of the fingers 44 the engagement of the head 50 with the fixed sleeve 48 will cause the shaft 40 and its connecting mechanism to move transversely toward the stand ard 20 a slight distance to cause the lateral edge of a sheet of paper which is gripped by the fingers 44 to contact with the inner face of the side wall 25 of the paper guide nearest the standard 20 thereby properly alining the same during its forward movement so that each sheet of paper is simultaneously moved toward the printing press and laterally toward one paper guide thus accomplishing an oblique movement of the paper. The oscillation of the arm 51 also rocks the arm 15- carrying the pawl 18 which intermittentlyengages the teeth on the ratchet-Wheel13 and imparts a partial rotation to the shaft 10, rollers 9 and 11 and the web, belt or conveyer 12 to move the entire stack or pile.,of sheets forward to permit the engagement of the fingers 44 with the next or top sheet of the stack. The braking member 35 prevents forward movement of the next sheet of paper.

I claim,

1. A device of the character described comprising an intermittently travelingconveyer for supporting a stack of superposed sheets of material, supporting hearings on shaft in said bearings, a rocking arm on said shaft, a finger loosely held on said arm the free end of which is adapted to engage the top sheet of said stack and move the same forwardly at a greater speed than the speed of travel of said conveyer and means for imparting a lateral movement to said shaft whereby said top sheet is moved simultaneously in two directions.

opposite sililes of said conveyer, a rotatablev 2. A device of the character described comprising an intermittently traveling conveyer for supporting a stack of superposed sheets of material, a guide along one side of said conveyer, supporting bearings on opposite sides of said conveyer, a rotatable shaft in said bearings, a rocking arm on said shaft, a finger loosely held on said arm the free end of which is adapted to engage the top sheet of said stack and move the same'forwa-rdly at a greater speed than the speed of travel of said conveyer and means for imparting a lateral movement to said shaft whereby said top sheetis moved simultaneously in two directions, the lateral movement of said shaft and finger arranged to bring the side edge of the sheet into contact with said guide for alining said sheet 3. A device of the character described comprising an intermittently traveling conveyer for supporting a stack of superposed sheets of material, supporting bearings on opposite sides of said conveyer, a rotatable shaft in said bearings, a rocking arm on said shaft, a finger loosely held on said arm the free end of which is adapted to engage the top sheet of said stack and move the same forwardly at a greater speed than the speed of travel of said conveyer and means for imparting a lateral movement to said shaft whereby said top sheet is moved simultaneously in two directions, and means for holding the next succeeding sheet against move ment in unison with said top sheet.

4. A device of the character described comprising an intermittently traveling conveyer for supporting a stac of superposed sheets of material, a guide along one side of said conveyer, supporting hearings on 0pposite sides of said conveyer, a rotatable shaft in said bearings, a rocking arm on said shaft, a finger loosely held on said arm the free end of which is adapted to en age the top sheet of said stack and move t e same forwardly 'at a greater speed than the speed of travel of sand conveyer and means for imparting a lateral movement to said shaft -movement in unison with said top sheet.

5. A. device of the character described comprising an intermittently traveling conveyer for supporting astaek of superposed sheets of material, standards positioned on opposite sides of said conveyor and provided with hearings, a shaft mounted in said bearings extending above said conveyer, means to partially rotate the shaft on its axis, means to simultaneously move said shaft longitudinally of its axis, a finger loosely pivoted to said shaft and arranged to rock in unison with the partial rotation thereof the free end of which is arranged to engage the top sheet of said stack and move said sheet simultaneously in two directions.

6. A device of the' character described comprising an intermittently traveling conveyor for supporting a stack of superposed sheets of material, standards positioned on opposite sides of said conveyor and provided with hearings, a shaft mounted in said bearings extending above said eonveyer, means to. partially: rotate the shaft on its axis, means to simultaneously move said shaft longitudinally of its axis, a finger loosely pivoted to said shaft and arranged to rock in unison with the partial rotation thereof-the free end of which is arranged to engage the top sheet of said stack and move said sheet simultaneously in two directions and independently supporting means arranged to engage the next succeeding sheet for holding the same against movement in unison with said top sheet.

7. A device of the character described comprising an intermittently traveling conveyer for supporting a stack of superposed sheets of material, means for moving said oonveyer, an. oscillating shaft positioned narneeo transversely and above said eonveyer, means to oscillate said shaft on its axis, means to simultaneously shift said shaft longitudinally of its axis, a rockingarm on said shaft, a loosely pivoted finger on said arm the free end o-"- which is arranged to engage the top sheet of said. stack of material and move the same simultaneously in two directions and bring the side edge of said sheet into engagement with a guiding member, means for rotating said shaft said means haying connection with the means for moving said con veyer for simultaneous movement of the two.

81 A device of the character described comprising an intermittently traveling LOllveyer for supporting a. stack of superposed sheets of material, means for moving said conveyer, an oscillating shaft PUSllLlU'ilkil transversely and above said conveyer, means to oscillate said shaft on its axis, means to simultaneously shift said shaft longi idinally of its axis, a rocking arm on said eh I a loosely pivoted finger on said arm the rree end of which is arranged. to engage the top sheet of said stack of material and move the same simultaneously in two directions and bring the side edge of said sheet ment with a guiding member, means for rotating said shaft said. means having Qonnection with the means for moving said eonveyer for simultaneous movement of the top and means independent of said shaft and engaging the next succeeding-sheet for holding the latter against movement said top sheet.

lin testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand,

'ERLE B. SNYDER.

into engagein unison with 

